A Scar Is Born
by Schen
Summary: Riley's trained all his life to become a baseball star, but it's the untrained ignorant caveman who makes the team instead. Explores 'Home Run Koda' from Riley's point of view.


All he'd ever wanted to do was play baseball.

'Son. You've got talent! How would you like to play for the Amber Beach Earthquakes?' That line should have been directed to him. Yet it was not he, Riley Griffin, who had trained from young to become a baseball star, who heard it. The talent scout was talking to an untrained, ignorant caveman instead.

Koda turned to him confusedly. 'Would I like that?'

Would he like that? Would _he_ like that? No, Koda would not like that. He, Riley, would like that. It was what he was meant to do. It was what he had trained for, with every fibre of his being, since he was a toddler. He could still remember every ball he had missed, every bat he had swung until there were blisters on his fingers, every taunt he had endured from classmates who found it hilarious that Brainiac wanted to play baseball.

'Like it? Koda, you'd love it!' He took his friend aside, away from the scout's curious gaze. 'Listen, I know everything there is to know about baseball. With your…skills, and my knowledge, we'd own them!' Skills, a fancy term to describe what he privately thought was nothing more than brute strength. But if Riley couldn't play in the big leagues himself, he was damn well going to make sure Koda did.

The caveman smiled. And Riley knew his dreams of becoming a baseball star were finally one step closer to reality.

* * *

'Koda said you're cutting off his burgers.'

Shelby again - the last person he wanted to see after ending an exhausting dinner shift. She'd been on his trail ever since he'd started training Koda. But Koda wasn't complaining, so why was she?

'He may not tell you, but I know he doesn't like it.' Shelby was glaring at him. Riley sometimes thought the Pink Ranger could read minds. 'Who are you to tell him what he can and can't eat? You know how much he loves his burgers.'

'I'm his coach.' _Duh_. The last time he'd checked, telling players what they could and couldn't eat was part of a coach's job description.

'So that means you can boss him around? That you can drag him out of bed at four in the morning, yell at him until he does what you want?' Shelby had taken a step closer.

Riley almost laughed. Did she really think she could intimidate him? He'd spent his childhood at the mercy of bullies twice her size.

'Koda's not a piece of meat, Riley. He's a Ranger. A friend.'

' _And_ an adult.' Riley rolled his eyes, why was Shelby making him state the obvious? 'He can leave any time. But he wants to play. You heard him, he accepted the scout's offer himself.'

'Koda is a _child_! You could scar him for life. He doesn't understand, he thinks you're his friend.' Shelby's voice cracked. Hadn't she been on the verge of shouting mere seconds before? 'He could tear you apart - but he won't do it, not in a million years. You're his brother.'

Shelby had been making less and less sense, but now he had lost her completely. Koda had asked Riley's advice whether to play for the Earthquakes and he, with Koda's best interests at heart, had said yes. He'd even promised to use the best of his efforts to make Koda a star. Now Riley was doing nothing more than upholding his end of the deal, and suddenly here Shelby was, complaining about Koda's diet and even something about brothers. What did she want him to do? Give up and forever consign Koda to obscurity?

'As far as I'm concerned I've made it clear. I'm not doing this as a brother, or as a friend. I'm his coach.'

Shelby deflated; her aggression and energy suddenly gone.

'I can't talk to you like this. Just - Koda's my friend too. Like he was yours, once. If he gets hurt, you'll have me to answer to as well.'

Riley watched her figure retreat down the corridor. He thought he heard a sob. Then she turned the corner and he was alone with his thoughts in the cafe.

* * *

'Kendall's picked up a monster attack. Let's go.'

The other Rangers were streaming out. Didn't they understand he and Koda had a big game tomorrow?

Shelby had realised that he and Koda weren't following. 'Well…?'

This was why Riley had never made it to the top. Because all his life, he had been surrounded by people who didn't believe in him, people who thought he should prioritise his studies, or his work on the farm, above his dreams of playing baseball. And he, ever the obedient son, had complied. Well, he'd had enough of letting others decide his dreams.

'You guys go ahead. Me and Koda have a game to train for.'

She stepped up in front of him, making a sarcastic 'Knock knock, anyone home?' gesture at his forehead. 'Did you hear me? Kendall's picked up a monster attacking the city. Don't you think that's just a tiny bit more important than you and Koda's baseball game?'

And he'd thought Shelby was the smart one. Even she didn't understand. She'd grown up with a father who wanted her to go into business, when all she'd ever wanted to do was dig for dinosaurs. Riley had encouraged her to follow her passion into paleontology. And here she was, returning the favour by crushing his dream?

'Kendall's picked up alien DNA. Not a monster attack. It could be nothing.'

Shelby was never one to hide her anger. 'Or it could be something.'

'Well if it is, just call us!' He held up his communicator. 'We'll be there in a heartbeat. But until then, Koda and I have a game to train for. Come on, Koda.'

The caveman looked from him to Shelby, the latter rigid with rage. 'I…we play baseball?'

'Yes.' There was steel in his voice. He turned to leave, deliberately avoiding the plea in the caveman's eyes. 'Coming? It's your choice.'

And slowly, reluctantly, Koda walked over to him, and followed Riley out of the base.


End file.
